Art Proxima | Where Arts + Community Connect
Join us on Oct 20th for a discussion on business practices for successful event production at Haus of Owl!
This is a new (FREE) monthly speaker series bringing people together to explore the ideas, opportunities, and challenges shaping our local arts and community sector. Topics include infrastructure, advocacy, fundraising, and business planning.
Our Speaker: Nev Gibson, Operations Manager for the Victoria Ska and Reggae Society and Festival
Nev has been running sound for concerts and building tools to get the word out about live shows in Victoria since the late '90s, including building LiveVictoria.com. In this business planning focused Art Proxima Nev will be talking about how the Ska Reggae Society has been leveraging partnerships with other events, custom technology, and their event equipment and services program to stay in the black, while supporting many many other organizations.
Topic: The Cost of Doing Community - Lessons Learned and Strategies for Mitigating Rising Event Costs, with case studies from the Ska Reggae Festival.
Location:
Oct 20 - Haus of Owl at 780 Blanshard on the *4th floor - Garden Room.
Building entrance is at the corner of Blanshard and Burdett.
Art Proxima as an ongoing space for connection and learning across the arts and community sector. Future sessions will cover topics including infrastructure, advocacy, fundraising & business planning — we hope to see you there!
We gratefully acknowledge our funding partners for their financial support of our programming, the Province of British Columbia, and the Capital Regional District.
Next Art Proxima:
November 17, 2026
Guest speaker on Infrastructure
Event Format:
- 6:00 - 6:30 PM: Networking
- 6:30-6:45 PM: Community Pulse — (60-second) personal/organization intro, ask, or offer.
- 6:45 -8:00 PM: Guest Speaker(s) — followed by a Q&A.
- 8:00–9:00 PM: Networking
Participating Venues:
The *location rotates between our five partner venues: Haus of Owl, The Hourglass, Open Space, Sunset Labs and Other Guise Theatre. Accessibility information will be provided in advance of each session.
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Presentation Archives:
Get caught up with edited transcripts, audio, and video recordings from past presentations:
Art Proxima Vol. 1 | April 2026
Infrastructure | Commercial Leases with David Boon. Hosted @ the Haus of Owl / Creative House & Studios.
Recording note: The audio is presented in four parts. The recording begins during the transition from the Community Pulse to the main presentation, which starts approximately 0:28 seconds into Part 1.
Art Proxima Vol. 4 | October 2026
Business Planning | The Cost of Doing Community - Lessons Learned and Strategies for Mitigating Rising Event Costs, with Nev Gibson, ft. case studies from the Ska Reggae Festival. Hosted @ the Haus of Owl / Creative House & Studios.
[Transcript Coming Soon] & [Audio Coming Soon]
Art Proxima Vol. 3 | September 2026
Fundraising | Panel featuring Yvette Guigueno, Sean Guist, and Susan Stevenson (Moderator). Hosted @ the Open Space Society.
Art Proxima Vol. 2 | May 2026
Advocacy | Influencing Municipal Policy with Lisa Helps. Hosted @ the Hourglass Studios.
[Transcript - *Partial] & [Audio Recording - *Partial]
Editorial note: Due to a recording error, only part of this session was captured, and both the recording and transcript begin midway through the presentation.
